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(No Model.) 5 Sheets- Sheet 1.

C. H. NORTON.

. GRINDING MACHINE. N0- 434,115. Patent-ed Aug. 12, 1890,

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('No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 2.

C. H. NORTON.

' @BINDING MACHINE.

No. 434,115. Patented-Aug. 12, 1890.

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(No Model.)

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5 Shsets-Sheet 4.

Patented Aug. 12, 1890.

C. H. NORTON. GRINDING MACHINE.

mmasss (No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 5. G. H. NORTON.

GRINDING MACHINE. i

No. 434,115. Patented Aug. 12, 1890.l

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. moro-Uma., wAsulNn vummm UNITED VSTATES v PATENT v OFFICE.

,CHARLES H. NORTON, OF` PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THE EROI/VN da SHARPE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 434,115, dated August 12, 1890.

Application iiled July 31, 1889. Seiial No. 319,301. (No model.)

To all whom it may con/ecrit:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. NoRroN, of the city and county of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, have invented certain rnew and useful Improvements in Grinding- Machines; and I do hereby declare the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same, to be a full, clear, and eXact description thereof.

The machine illustrated in the accompanying drawings is of the same general character and construction as t-hat which forms the subject of the Letters Patent granted to Charles D. Owen and Lucian Sharpe, executors of Joseph R. Brown, deceased, No. 187,770, dated February 27, 1877, and the inventions hereinafter described are improvements upon the machine of the said patent designed to facili- 2otate the operation and manipulation of themachine and to secure greater accuracy in the work produced. i

The several features of invention consti-' tuting such improvements will be first described, and then specifically pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation ot' the machine. Fig. 2 represents a front elevation of a portion of the machine upon an enlarged scale. Fig. 3 is a transverse section through the center of the machine. Fig. et is a central longitudinal section through the grinding-spindle and its bearings. Fig. 5 is a section on the line X X, Fig. 4. Fig. (i is a plan view, partly in section, of the base of the machine. Fig. 7 is a section on the line Z Z, Fig. G, and Fig. 8 is a detail representing a top view of the twopart clamping device.

rIhe machine shown in the drawings being of the same general character and construction as the machine of said Patent No. 187,770, and being well known, it will not be necessaryto describe in detail either its general 'organization or the parts which enter int-o its make-up. The machine is supported upon a base A, to which is firmly secured a stationary` bed-plate A', as shown in Fig. l, upon which bed-plate the main carriage of themachine reciprocates.

= My first. improvement relates to the construction of the baseA of the machine. Itis very essential to the production of accurate work that the operative parts of the machine shall be maintained in proper alignment, and to that end it is necessary that lthe machine shall be firmly and steadily supported and that there shall be no sagging or springing of any part. To secure this result the base A is constructed, as shown in Fig. G, in a T form, 6o and so that it will thus have three legs to stand upon, as at a, a a2, thereby furnishing a solid and steady support for the machine. To give strength and rigidity to the base as a whole, and especially to resist any tendency of the machine to settle or sag between the supporting-legs, interior webs or trusses b b are provided, arranged as clearly shown in Fig. 6, which connect the side walls of the upright of the T with the corners of the arms 7o of the T at the front of the machine, as shown in the drawings. By the employment of these webs or trusses, located and arranged as shown, great strength and rigidity are given to the base, the two parts ofthe T being thereby iirmly and securely connected together, While at the same time ample room is left for the usual closet B for holding tools, extra parts, &c. Moreover, the location and arrangement of the webs or trusses are such as to praeti 8o cally prevent any sagging or settling of the machine between the supporting-legs, as would otherwise be liable to be the case.

The next feature of improvement relates to means for securing and maintaining an eX- act alignmentof the grinding-spindle with its bearings, and consists, generally, in the employment of self-aligning bearings for the grinding-spindle, in combination with other parts, hereinafter described. It is of the 9o greatest necessity that the grinding-spindle should run snugly in its bearings and at the same time not bind at any point-that is, that there should be a contact of metal to metal throughout the entire length of the bearing; or, in other words, that there should bea perfeet alignment of the grinding-spindle with its bearings. It is also desirable, for obvious reasons, to employ bearings of `considerable length for the grinding-spindle.. Now, it is rooA very difficult, requiring very careful and precise workmanship, toA secure the necessary alignment of the grinding-spindle with along bearing Where the bearingis not self-adjustable. Even if a perfect alignment were finally secured, any considerable change in temperaturewould so affect the base ort'rame or other part of the machine as to destroy such alignment. To secure the desired results the grinding-spindle C is mounted in self-aligning boxes or bearings c c, one at each end of the spindle. The main grinding-wheel D is secured to the grinding-spindle between its bearings. If desired, an auxiliary grinding- Wheel E may be secured to the end of the spindle, as shown in Fig. 4. The boxes orbearings c c are of tapering form and are split or cut through along one side, as atc', Fig. 5, so that by being drawn or forced into their supports, which are made correspondingly tapering, they may be adjusted so as to always snugly fit the grinding-spindle, as will be Well understood. The means for securing theselfadjustment or self-alignment of the boxes or bearings c c With the grinding-spindle consists in the present case in the employment of ball-and-socket supports for said bearings. Each of said boxes c c is mounted in a collar or support d, the bore of which is tapered to correspond with the tapered exterior of the box c, said collar or support d being provided With an enlargement d near its center, constituting the ball of the ball-and-socket device. Each of these collars or supports d d is mounted or clamped in a two-part clamp e e', hollowed out to fit the enlargement d', and constituting the socket of the ball-andsocket device. The part c of this clamp is -formed in a rigid arm f, extending upward from the grinding-Wheel plate F, and the part e is formed in a swinging arm f', pivoted to` the arm f, as shown in Figs. 3 and S. The swinging arm f may be latched or locked to the arm f by means of a swinging bolt g, pivoted to the arm f and Working in slots g g2 in the arms f and f respectively, all as shown in Figs. 3, 5, and 8, thereby clamping and firmly holding the collar or support d.

The arrangement of the parts just described is the same for each of the boxes c c. The grinding-spindle being properly fitted in the boxes c c, and the said boxes c c being forced home in the supports d d, it is obvious that when the grinding-spindle is placed in position with the ball-supports CZ d occupying the sockets e e the balls and sockets Will necessarily cause the spindle and its bearings to `take positions in exact alignment with each other. The clamps e e are then brought down and lockedin position, thereby holding the parts in place. If, now, for any reason the boxes or bearings shall get out of proper alignment with the spindle, it is further obvious that by unclamping the clamps e e the boxes will align themselves with the spindle by the necessary movement ot' the balls in the sockets of the supports, thereby effecting a self-adj ustment or self-alignmentof the bearings with the spindle. By this arrangement the difeulty of securing a proper "alignment of the spindle and bearings Where non-adjustable supports are employed is avoided, and at the same time it is possible to employ bearings of considerablelength for the spindle, and by the proper adjustment of the split taperingbushing in the tapered support therefor a snug t of the spindle in its bearings is secured. Furthermore, by the employment of said self-aligning bearings the grindingspindle, with its boxes or bearings, may be readily turned end for end, and thus when a grindingwheel is employed on the end of the spindle bring that grinding-wheel on the opposite side of the machine. This is often convenient and desirable; but it could not be done Without the employment of self-aligning bearings', because the bearings could not be brought into proper alignment With the spindle. Vith self-aligning bearings, however, the spindle with its boxes may be easily reversed in position, the ball andsocket clampingsupports securing the necessary alignment of the parts and serving to clamp and hold the bearings in proper relation to the grinding-spindle.

The next improvement relates to means for protecting the ways, upon Which, the sliding carriage supporting the grinding-wheel'travels, from dust, dirt, grit, dac. The revolution of the grinding-Wheel, which is often at high rates of speed,necessarily produces a strong current of air, which is forced directly into and along the ways upon which the grindingwheel carriage travels. This current of air will, unless some means is employed to preventv it, constantly carry along with it dust, dirt, grit from the grinding-Wheel, particles from the work beingground, the., and deposit them along the ways, which is of course very objectionable. To prevent this the pivoted base G, upon which the sliding carriage H reciprocates, is provided with a forward extension 7L, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, and the sliding carriage His also provided with a corresponding extension 7L', having a downward projection 7b2, and constituting in eect a cap or hood. The downward projection bears upon and makes a substantially air-tight joint, as at fi, with the extension 7L of the base, and thereby practically excludes the current of air and effectually guards and protects the ways from dust and dirt.

The next feature of improvement relates to the means for effecting lthe automatic reversal of the direction of movement of the main reciprocating carriage I, which travels on the bed-plate A. verse the movement of thisreciprocating carriage automatically by means of a lever actuated by dogs or stops secured to said reciprocating carriage-one on either side of the lever--one of said dogs coming in contact with the lever as the carriage moves in one direction and causing a clutch to be shifted and the direction of -movement of the carriage to -be reversed until theother dog comes in con- It has been customary to re- IOD IlO

ating-dogs at j j. I'Vhere the lever is arranged direction or the other.

to stand in the path of travel of the dogs, and so that the lever itself is -hit by the dogs alternately, as has heretofore beencthe case, it is obvious that the carriage can be moved in either direction only so far as will be sufficient to throw the lever so as to shift the clutch. It is often desirable to move the reciprocating carriage beyond this point in one W'ith the construction above referred to this could only be done by unclamping one of the dogs and sliding it along out of the way of the lever. This was very objectionable, because, as it is often desired to so move the carriage after the dogs have been properly adjusted and set for the grinding of a series of articles, which all require the carriage to be reversed at the same point in its travel,or even while the grinding of a given piece of work is in progress, when the dog was thus unclamped and moved from its proper position, it required to be carefully readj usted and reset before the automatic operation of the machine could be resumed. It is obvious that to thus readj ust the dog required care and consumed time.

The present improvement consists in pro- Viding means whereby the reciprocating carriage I may be moved by hand, if desired, or otherwise, to any extent in either direction without changing the position of either of the dogs or disturbing their adj ustment; and to that end the invention consists in so constructing or arranging the reversing-lever J that the upper portion of said lever will stand outside of the path of movement of the dogs on the carriage and in providing the lever with an adjustable slide, which can be adj usted so as to lie within the path of movement of the dogs and cause the lever to be actuated thereby,or s) as to be out of the path of movement of the dogs, and so that the latter can pass by wit-hout actuating the lever. Referring to the drawings, Figs. 2 and 3,1( represents the adjustable slide, arranged upon the lever J so as to be capable of adjustment up or down thereon, and provided with a set-screw 7e to hold it in any desired position. This slide K is made sufficiently thick, or is provided with a rearward extension, as shown in Fig. 3, so that the rear portion thereof, will lie within the path of movement of the dogs upon the reciprocating carriage, and so that as the carriage reciprocates back and forth cach of the dogs will alternately come in contact with the rear portion of the slide K, and thereby actuate the lever and the reversing mechanism connected therewith. W'hen it is desired to run the reciprocating carriage back beyond the range of movement provided for by the adjustment of the dogs, allthat it is'necessary to do is to unclamp the set-screw k and move the slide K upward and above the path of movement of the dogs.

The carriage can then be moved in either direction to any extent, the dogs simply passing freely below t-he slide K and Without coming in contact therewith. It is obvious that by this arrangement the carriage can be run back Whenever occasion requires without changing the position of the dogs, andthus Without disturbing the prearranged adjustment thereof.

The dogs j j, as has been pointed out, are adjustable on vthe carriage I, so that by properly adjusting their position thereon with'respect to the lever the automatic Yreversal of the carriage may be effected at `any desired point in its travel. To secure a still further regulation of the time when the carriage shall be reversed, the slide K is provided with two adj listing-screws 7e k2, which project one from either side thereof parallel withthe line of travel of the reciprocating carriage and in the path of movement of the dogs j j, so as to be alternately hit by each of the dogs in turn as the carriage reciprocates. These aflj Listing-screws may be made to project from the slide K a greater or less distance, and thus regulate the time when they will be hit by their respective dogs. By this arrangement a very fine adjustment of thetime when the carriage shall be reversed may be secured.

Another improvement in the means for effecting the automatic reversal ofthe direction of movement of the reciprocating carriage I relates more particularly to the shifting of the clutch which reverses the direction of the power applied to reciprocate-thc carriage. As the reciprocating carriage I is a slow-moving carriage, it does not acquire any substantial momentum of its own, and if no other means than the lever J, actuated by the dogs on the carriage, were employed for dis--t engaging and engaging the clutch7 (shown at L, Fig. 2,) the machine Would be liable to come to a standstill, for the reason that if the clutch were wholly disengaged from one of the bevel-gears by the movement of the reciprocating carriage the carriage, when the clutch was thus disengaged, having acquired no substantialmomentum, would be liable to come to a standstill, and there would be nothing to cause the engagement of the clutch with the other bevel-gear, with the result that the entire machine would stop. To guard against this, means have heretofore been devised for providing a certain amount of lost motion in some part of the reversing mechanism, so that there may be a movement of the reversing-lever without producing a disengagement of the clutch, such movement of the lever enabling the actual disengagement and re-engagement of the clutch to be effected by means of certain other spring-actuated mecl1anism.-sucl1, for instance, as a springactuated plunger having a beveled or Wedgeshaped head. Y

The present invention relates to improvements in the mechanism for disengaging and re-engaging the clutch L after the lever J has IOO IIO

'- been moved by one or the other of the dogs j j into such a position as to enable the clutchactuating mechanism to operate.

Referring tothe drawings, Fig. 2, it will be seen that the reversing-lever J forms one arm of a bell-crank lever, which is secured to a rock-shaft M, as shown. -The other end J of this bell-crank lever is provided with a roller Z, which engages with the wedge-shaped head 'm vof a plunger m', which is actuated by a spring m2. The arm J of the bell-crank lever J J is provided near its end with a pair of adjusting-screwsjj, arranged as shown. Secured to the rock-shaft M is another bellcrank lever N N the arm N of which engages with and operates the clutch L, and the arm N of which is provided with a fork, the arms n 'n of which are arranged to lie in the path Y of movement of the adjusting-screws j j and to be alternately hit thereby.4 As shown in the drawings, the arms n fn, of the forked end ofthe bell-crank lever N N are separated Y from each other a sufficient distance to enable the bell-crank lever J J to be moved a certain distance and until the roller Zhas passed the apex of the wedge-shaped former m be-1 fore one of the arms n can be hit or actuated by one of the screws j', thus providing the lost motion required to prevent the disengage-` ment of the clutch by the movement of the reciprocating carriage I.

The operation of the parts is as follows; The amount of the lost motion being properly regulated by the adjustment of the screws j j', the parts are to be so arranged that the movement of the reciprocating carriage I will, by means of one ot the dogs 7' j, move the bell-crank lever J J so that the roller Z mayy just pass the apex of the wedge-shaped former m without disengaging the clutch L and without stopping the machine. Thereupon the plunger m will be thrown forward by the force of the spring m2, and thus by the action of the beveled face of the Wedgeshaped head m on the roller l one or the other of the adj Listing-screws j 7" will be caused to hit or tap one or the' other of the arms n n of the forked end of the bell-crank lever N N and thus move said bell-crank lever to disengage the clutch from one of the bevel-gears and engage it with the other. By this arrangement it will be seen that a sharp, quick, and forcible tap is given to the bell-cranklever N N, and thus a quick and positive movement to the clutch L, thereby enabling the use of a clutch with practically rectangular faces, which is manifestly of great advantage, and which could not be done except by giving to the clutch a sharp, quick, and forcible movement, Aas described.

Wr hat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a grinding-spindle provided with split tapering boxes or bear-l ings, one near eac-l1 end ot' the spindle, of correspondingly-tapered balland socket supports for the said spindle and its bearings, said supports being held or clamped in position so that by unclamping said ball-andsocket supports the spindle and its bearings will align themselves one with the other, thereby rendering them self-adjustable and enabling a snug and accurate t of the spindle in its bearings to be readily secured and maintained, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the grindingwheel carriage of a v grinding-machine provided with a forward extension or hood, of a base having suitable ways for said grindingwheel carriage to travel on and also provided with a corresponding forward projection, said projections or extensions being so arranged with reference to each other as to form a comparatively close joint between them, and thereby exclude dust,'dirt, grit, &c.,from the ways upon which said carriage travels, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a reciprocating carriage provided with dogs or'stops, of aV reversing-lever located out of the path of movement of the dogs on the carriage and provided with an adjustable slide which may be adjusted so as to occupy a position within the path of movement of said dogs and so as to be actuated thereby, or may be adjusted so as to be without the path of movement of\ said dogs, and thereby enable the said dogs to pass by the lever without actuating the reversing mechanism,l substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a reciprocating carriage provided vwith dogs or stops, of a reversing-lever located out of the path of movement of the dogs on the carriage and provided with an adjustable slide which may be adjusted so as to occupy a position within the path of movement of said dogs and so as to .be actuated thereby, or may be adjusted so as to be without the path of movement of said dogs, and thereby enable the said dogs to pass by the lever without actuating the reversing mechanism, said adjustable slide being provided with adjusting-screws arranged to be hit alternately by the dogs on the reciprocating carriage, whereby the time when the direction of movement of the reciprocating carriage is to be reversed may be accurately adjusted, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with a reciprocating carriage provided with dogs or stops, of two bell-crank levers mounted on a common rockshat't, one of said bell-crank levers being adapted to be actuated by the saidy dogs on the reciprocating carriage and in turn actuating the other bell-crank lever which engages and operates a shifting-clutch, the arrangement being such that there is a certain amount of lost motion between the tw'o bell-crank levers, whereby the bell-crank lever actuated by the dogs on the reciprocating carriage may be moved a certain distance without impart- TOC IIO

ing motion to the other bell-crank lever, and thus without moving the shifting-clutch, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with a reciprocating carriage -provided with dogs or stops, of two bell-crank levers mounted on a common rockshaft, one of said bell-crank levers being actuated by the said dogs on the reciprocating carriage and engaging at its other end with a Wedge-shaped spring-actuated plunger, and the other bell-crank lever being provided at one end with a fork adapted to be actuated by the first-mentioned bell-crank lever and engaging at its other end witha shiftingclutch, the parts being soarranged that there is a certain amount of lost motion between the two bell-crank levers, whereby the bellcrank lever actuated by the dogs upon the reciprocating carriage may be moved until its other end has passed the apex of the Wedgeshaped plunger without moving the bell-crank lever which engages with the shifting-clutch, and whereby the disengagement and reengagement of said shifting-clutch may be effected by the action of said spring-actuated wedge-shaped plunger upon the end of the bell-crank lever which is actuated by the dogs upon the carriage, causing it to hit or `tap the forked end of the bell-crank lever which actuates the shifting-clutch, and thus disengage and re-engage said clutch, substantially as described.

7. Thecombination, with a reciprocating carriage provided with dogs or stops, of two bell-crank levers mounted on a common rockshaft, one of said bell-crank levers being actuated by the said dogs on the reciprocating carriage and engaging at its other end with a Wedge-shaped springact-uated plunger, and the other bell-crank lever being provided at one end with a fork adapted to be actuated by the first-mentioned bell-crank lever and engaging at its other end with av shiftingclutch, the parts being so arranged that there is a certain amount of lost motion between the two bell-crank levers, the bell-crank lever actuated by the dogs on the reciprocating carriage being provided with adjusting-screws arranged so that they will in their movement come in contact with or hit the arms of the fork on the other bell-crank lever, whereby .the amount of lost motion between the two levers maybe adjusted and the disengagement and re-engagelnent of the shiftingclutch by means of the said spring-actuated plunger be regulated, substantially as described.

WV. H. THURsToN, S. J. MURPHY. 

